Heroism is overrated: A Borderlands story
by Dablackwyrm
Summary: Two years before the beginning of Borderlands 2, A young man dies and is reborn in the most unexpected of ways on another planet. With his new life, he travels to the planet of Pandora, growing stronger and gaining allies in his quest to stop Handsome Jack. He won't be alone however. swearing, violence, (attempted) borderlands humor Might have some romance later on.
1. Chapter 1: You either die a hero

**Hello. Dablackwyrm here. after stumbling upon this site 3 years ago and reading story after story as an anon, I decided to throw my hat into the literary ring.**

 **In my excitement, I forgot to place a disclaimer for this story. since I'm allergic to lawsuits, I'll just say this: I do not own borderlands. 2K and Gearbox does. Only my OC's are mine.**

 **This is my second story, my first being The charms of the pharaoh, my first foray into lemon and smut fics. this story I will attempt to focus on the action, humor, and moral gray area of the borderlands games. I plan to write the entirety of BL 2 along with the DLC as I play them. As well as include an OC with the main six Vault Hunters. (Yeah I know, super original right?) in their quest to stop Handsome Jack and free pandora. I hope I do the series proud. Without any further ado, this is...**

Heroism is overrated: a borderlands story.

chapter 1: You either die a hero...

" _Shit_ _shit shit_... this was a bad idea!" Kayus yelled as he fired a rusty dahl Assault rifle at a group of Hyperion soldiers. "They make this look so easy in the movies! I try it and it bites me in the- aaaggghhh!" He grunted as a round punched through his shoulder. He really should have bought a shield, he thought. Unfortunately they didn't have any for impulsive acts of heroism abd bravado. His last thoughts were of punching the guy who made up the damnable phrase "YOLO".

He took consolation in the fact that he was hit with normal non-elemental rounds, _even though they still hurt._ . A sign they wanted him alive (probably just to kill him later after an interrogation). There wouldn't be anything left of him to bury if they were firing corrosive and incendiary rounds at him. He fell to the ground on his back, his shoulder bleeding profusely as the pool of crimson grew larger under him on the concrete. He looked up into the dark skies above Ares VII, his home planet. Several searchlights focused on him, ignoring the cargo ship carrying a group of hyperion's soon-to-be-but-not-anymore slag test subjects into the stratosphere safely out of their reach, heading to worlds unknown. He hoped his distraction worked, and that the bastards didn't have any of their ships in orbit to stop ships coming and/or going due to the size and strategic un-importance of the planet. A hyperion officer in blue and gray armor with a green stripe on the left side of his shoulder going down to his leg walked towards the wounded teen. He Looked down at him with the single glowing red eye on his helmet that made him look inhuman. He was flanked by two other soldiers in the yellow and gray armor, it didn't take Kayus long to figure out those two were low-rank.

"Take him to the "guest" room and patch him up. Jack will want to speak to this one personally." He ordered before knocking him out with a boot to the face.

Kayus woke up with a start, coughing hard as if he'd been strangled, his head throbbing and face wet with water. He was in a small room with four walls painted white, and yellow stripe along the middle. He looked to his left and saw an assortment of what appeared to be torturing instruments. A syringe with an unknown liquid, pliers for pulling out teeth, and a scalpel among them. His blue eyes trembled slightly with fear, as he realized he may have bit off more than he could chew. * _At least they patched up my shoulder...*_ He thought, trying to remain optimistic. The door in front of slid open as three people entered the room.

"Oh you're up! good morning sunshine!" A smarmy, cocky voice said mockingly in the douchiest voice imaginable. He read aloud: "Let's see here... Name is Kayus Blackmore, son of Rowan and Rose blackmore, Sister of Leia Blackmore, blah blah **FRICKIN** blah! You know why you're here, right? Who I am?" A man in his late thirties, wearing a mask that appeared grafted onto his face that would have made him attractive if not for his grating voice. He wore a trench coat with spiky brown hair looked at him, An ECHO device in one hand while idly playing with a Hyperion pistol in his right.

Kayus coughed again, red blood trickling from his mouth. "A jackass?" He smirked cockily, trying to get under his skin. He was resigned to his fate. He just hoped his message went through.

The man placed the ECHO in his pocket and walked towards the restrained teen on the table, backhanding him so hard it echoed inside the small room. The pair of soldiers at the entrance flinched visibly, lucky it wasn't them in that chair. "haha. Cute. Real cute. I'm handsome jack. CEO of hyperion, richer than god a bazillion times over and killer of young little punks like you." Jack announced proudly. Flanked by two Hyperion soldiers. "So why don't you be a good boy and tell me just what the hell you were doing trying to skip town with my 'assets'." He asked in a neutral voice while walking around the chair Kayus was in. "I mean, you think you're in deep shit now, you should see the guy who oversaw this place. He's currently ashes in a trashcan!" He laughed. "I mean, it makes me look bad when the guys I hired to keep things going smoothly allow some _kid_ to come along and kick their asses!"

Kayus wasn't stupid. He knew that he was screwed whether he told them or not. He was still going to die either way. So he decided to tell him the truth in the most dickish way possible.

"Funny you mention this planet, because you won't find them here." Kayus replied, giving the despot a shit-eating grin. "Time is money, right? while you're here, they're slipping further and further away- ungh!" Kayus groaned as one of the soldiers struck him in the gut with the butt of his rifle.

"Is that so? Possession is nine-tenths of the law, kid. You just stole company property!" Jack told him as he walked around the chair the lad was strapped to. "Tell me, how old are you? Twenty-one, right?" He asked him. He knew already, but wanted to screw with him. "I was deciding if I should have you work for me for the rest of your life..." He paused. "But You still wouldn't be able to cover the costs of those lab rats you stole from me! So I may have to kill you. Nothing Personal... Kid!" The despot laughed.

Kayus' eyes widened. Was he really going to die? He had heard stories of Handsome Jack on ECHOnet. kidnappings, assassinations, murders designed to look like accidents...

"Gonna be like that huh? Well I bet your sister would be more cooperative. Or your parents?" He smiled, watching the black-haired teen grit his teeth. "Perhaps we should pay her a visit... I got a group of assassins at your house right now, ready to kill all of them on my command! How 'bout that, huh?" Jack sneered.

The young adult glared at the despot in front of him. No-one threatened his younger sister or his family. He was normally calm and collected, but any affront directed at his family resulted in many poor saps getting their asses kicked. He struggled to break free of his bindings but to no avail. "You son of a bitch! If you're going to kill me, kill me! leave them out of it!" He spat.

"A son of a bitch? hahahahahah! you hear this kid? I'm a goddamn hero! I saved pandora _and_ cleared the corrupt asshats off this pimple of a planet! I gave you one chance, but you're just too damn stubborn..." Jack said as he aimed the pistol at his head. "Don't worry, your family will be waiting for you in hell. Just remember, you brought this on yourself..." Jack grinned as he pulled the trigger, blowing a golfball-sized hole in kayus' head. splattering blood, brains and bone all over the wall behind him.

"Kids today, am I right?" He joked. "What's the status on the loose ends?" He asked the two soldiers.

"We did as you asked and sent a squad of assassins to the residence. As soon as they entered, it exploded. The squad was KIA, and there was no sign of the family or their remains. we think they may have been warned beforehand and escaped the planet. Should we pursue them?" He asked.

"Looks like some of the hicks on this planet actually a brain." He rubbed his chiseled chin, admiring their cunning. Somehow they knew he was coming. That kid probably gave them a heads up before being caught. He checked out their backgrounds and wasn't impressed; a retired merc with a bum leg and a nurse couldn't be that much of a problem could they? Their kid certainly was. His sister wasn't anything special either. He should have just bombed the damn place, he thought. "Go ahead and place a bounty on them. They can run, but they can't hide." Jack replied as he holstered his pistol. Take me back to Helios, we got things to take care of... And tell the administrator of this branch that if something like this happens again, It'll be _him_ in that chair!" The fascist stated.

"What about the body, Sir?" The soldier asked.

"Oh that? I don't care." he gestured to the corpse in the chair. "Toss it in the slag vats, string it up like a scarecrow... people still use those?" The soldier shook his head. "Ah well. clean up this place while you're at it."

The soldiers did as their boss ordered them to, cleaning the interrogation room and carrying Kayus' lifeless body out of the room. They didn't even bother to seal him up in a bodybag, as they were used to disposing of nuisances this way. they stopped inside a warehouse in the back of the refinery, where slag, A byproduct of an element called Eridium was stored and in a series of large, cyndrilical vats made of metal.

"Was he serious about tossing him into these?" One of the grunts asked as he opened the lid, revealing the sludge-like, glowing purple substance that bubbled and churned inside.

"Who knows. But it's the easiest way. Let's just be done with it. We got other shit to do." the other grunt said nonchalantly. "one... two... hup!" they tossed his body inside the large drum, his body sinking slowly into the amethyst goo before the body disappeared entirely. the placed the lid on top and sealed it, carrying the drum onto one of the outgoing disposal trucks before it drove off before returning to their post.

tIf they had been paying attention, they would have seen the small, violet arcs of lightning as the dead flesh touched the slag. inside the truck, one of the barrel broke free from the inside as it drove past a bridge and rolled down a hill before landing in a river close by. It flowed downstream by way of a powerful rapid towards the ocean, leading to paths unknown...

 **That's chapter one down. I know this looks bleak, but I have a plan in mind. I'm still new at the writing thing, so if anyone has any tips or criticism for the mistakes I made please let me know. Also my OC will not be a siren. I think that's become a trope among BL fanfics.**

 **Flames or trolls will not be tolerated, constructive criticism is more than welcome.**


	2. Chapter 2: A second chance?

**Disclaimer: I do not own borderlands, Gearbox does**. **Only my OCs in this story belong to me.**

Heroism is overrated a borderlands story ch2

Chapter 2: A second chance?

The drum containing Kayus's lifeless body inside it washed up on the shore. It shook a few times, the a dent growing larger on the lid before before it popped off, much like a cork popping off a bottle of champagne, sending slag everywhere. A hand that emerged from the container, its veins glowing purple as it dug into the damp sand before dragging itself out.

Somehow Kayus had survived.

The smell of urine and greasy food filled his nostrils, causing him to vomit up more of the sickening sludge that he could feel pumping through his veins. His body spasmed and shuddered as he struggled to stand.

* _get on one knee. bend. one foot... come on..._ * He told his body mentally as he finally stood up. his bones cracking audibly from the rigor mortis. * _What? I... I died didn't I? I felt the bullet entered my head and then...*_ He looked around, he was on a beach. He could feel the cool sand beneath him. The smell of the salty air filling his nose despite his nostrils being filled with slag. He saw the clouds in the distance cover up the moon over the waves. He knew where this was, his home located along the coast not far from here. He immediately remembered what Jack had said about his parents.

* _No, no, no! please let them be okay!_ * He screamed in his head as he ran. He cursed himself for being so careless. He noticed as he ran, his body felt incredibly light, and the time it took to get to his house was shorter than he expected as well as his lack of fatigue. He could see the smoke rising into the air from the direction of his house. He finally arrived and fell to his knees at the burning pile of rubble that used to be his house. What had they done? He didn't see any sign of a struggle or battle. He screamed into the air, crying tears of sorrow at what his actions had caused and Jack's ruthlessness. He pounded the stone ground with his fists in despair, ignoring the fact that his hands were smashing solid stone like it was nothing. He underestimated jack, and it had cost him everything.

It was then he had a realization; only the house was destroyed. If he was lucky, The shelter underneath the house was intact. He rifled through the smoldering wreckage, sifting through glass, metal and wood to find the metal door leading to it. * _Yes! here it is!_ * He thought quietly as he opened the hole and climbed down. The shelter was located six feet underground beneath the house. His parents told him and Leia to come under here in case of an emergency. He reached the bottom and turned on the lights. There was an assortment of shelves that were mostly empty as if someone had cleared it out. Probably his family, he hoped. He walked through the bunker trying to remember where everything was when he stopped at the mirror. He took a long look at the person in the mirror, Touching his face and hair in surprise. despite being covered in purple stuff, his features were more defined. His face went from "outrageously plain" to "ruggedly handsome". He still retained his dark colored complexion, and cool piercing blue eyes. But he looked even better, at least Physically. He noticed his arms had more muscle on them and were surprisingly taut. He lifted up his shirt and freaked out at what he saw.

 _Washboard. Freaking. Abs._

He had kept himself in shape, hiking and jogging regularly while looking for inspiration for his art and his parents influence, but his body wasn't this toned or firm! He looked like one of the main male characters on the front of an old romance novel. Did the stuff he woke up in did this to him? Was he in purgatory or some form of afterlife? Would he turn into some giant if he got angry? Nah that would be _stupid._ He ran a head through his sticky, black locks of hair and felt a sharp pain on his forehead. parting the hair aside, his eyes widened. A large, round, purple scar the size of a golf ball looked at him in the mirror like a third eye. He noticed that the scar was slowly, but surely healing. A number of veins visibly pulsing as blood pumped through them into and around the scar, which he realized was the same place he was shot at. 

He _was_ alive! 

Kayus was mortified. Was he a zombie now? Could he turn people into... _whatever_ the hell he was? All of these questions made his head hurt. The goo his clothes were saturated with he had seen near the Eridium refinery where Kayus made his last stand. He didn't know what it was called, but it was nothing good. But whatever this stuff was, maybe it was a blessing. Or a curse. Returning to the now, he thought of what he was going to do now with this second chance. He would take as much as he could carry, and travel to one of the Frontier worlds in the six galaxies. He didn't care which. He had heard the worlds were uncivlized, lawless planets where criminals, murderers, psychopaths and other dregs of humanity dwelled. But with that came unbridled freedom and the lower chance that Hyperion would be looking for them. With that knowledge, Kayus took a loaded Jakobs brand revolver that was in a leather holster along with some protection. He wasn't going to take any chances. Kayus, because of his upbringing was taught to use firearms at a relatively young age hunting with his family. As a teen, he took up pain-ball, An Aresian sport where people shot each other with guns that fired metal balls (extra points for groin shots!) and was pretty skilled at it before retiring to head to college. He still kept up with his markmanship, his parents telling him and sister when they became adults to practice self-defense. 

Kayus climbed out of the bunker and closed it shut, but not before removing any and all information about his family and himself, followed by a grenade, blowing up the bunker to cover his tracks. He had managed to wash away most of the sludge on his body and find some new clothes. Some dark blue jeans and a black vest with a wifebeater underneath. He also cut his hair, making it about shoulder length. He covered up his scar with a black bandana he found as well. He had the revolver and holster on his hip and on the ammo belt was a small, oblong rectangular device with a glowing white core in the center. This was known as an Orb Shield. or shield for short. 

Shields are energy barrier generators that protect the wearer from any and all sources of damage. Ballistics, such as high velocity slugs or melee weapons such as knives or clubs, or elements such as fire or explosions, and electricity, the latter to a lesser extent since they disrupted shield systems. they come in many varieties and some even have special abilities or effects depending on the manufacturer. The formed an invisible barrier that only appeared to absorb or mitigate damage. when the shield capacity reach it's limit, the barrier would collapse and would need a few seconds to recharge to full. the rate at which it recharged varied, but the one Kayus's possession had an improved rate but a longer delay before charging. He turned on his ECHO, activating the Heads Up Display that monitored his shield capacity, heart rate, ammo count for equipped weapons, and mini-map of the surrounding area. 

Satisfied, as much as one can be satisfied when you're rendered homeless and everything you know and love has been destroyed _AND_ you got shot in the head but came back to life, Kayus shouldered his backpack and walked off towards the spaceport. The sun was slowly rising above the coast, and he didn't want to be seen close to where his house was. Sentimental fool he was, he took a piece of metal from the debris and slipped it into his pocket, keeping a bit of his home with him. At the spaceport, he took the first ship off the planet, making sure it was going to one of the frontier worlds where he couldn't be found by Hyperion and maybe start a new life with his... new life. cursing himself whenever a passenger mentioned the faint smell of dead fauna due to the purple goo he was covered in, he looked out the window, the red and blue planet growing smaller and small in the darkness of space. once the ship entered hyperspace, he took that time to rest his weary eyes, ignoring the autmated message talking about the ship's destination. Little did he know, that the ship was headed to a place where hope was less of a mercy and more of a curse... The planet known as Pandora, where his new found strength and abilities would be tested if he could survive the harsh world...

 **Next Chapter: The Pandoran Arc begins! What obstacles will our hero face on the infamous planet? Find out next time. Sorry if this is going slow, but I want to let Kayus shine for a bit and build him up. The Vault Hunters you know and love will show up in a few chapters or so.**


	3. Chapter 3: How do you spell Paradise?

**Once again, I do not own borderlands, only the OCs in this story belong to me**.

Heroism is overrated: A borderlands story

Chapter 3: How do you spell Paradise?

"Do you feel like a hero now kid Thought you could be a badass and save the day? Well you were wrong." * _BANG!_ *

Kayus snapped awake, his face slightly sweaty. He had tried sleeping for the third time since leaving Ares VII, Only to be assaulted by the same nightmare he had experienced the other four times he tried sleeping; Jack taunting him, then killing him. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing audibly. He wanted someplace to start anew after his family's disappearance. Somehow he knew they were alive, or maybe it was just a naive illusion his mind made up to keep him from going insane after dying and coming back to life. Whatever the case, he was the last of his family as far as he knew and that made him even sadder. As he tried drifting to sleep again Kayus felt the ship shudder a bit as it came out of hyperspace.

 ** _Now approaching Pandora._** The computerized voice announced.

Kayus looked out the window to see his new home. It was a large brown sphere with purple cracks spread out on the surface, like roots on a great tree. It's moon was in a similar way, Cracks all over the surface that glowed a bright orange from a distance. A massive space station in the shape of an H orbited the moon. the center a bright blue as it was directed at the planet. The station gave him a sense of foreboding, resembling a massive eye watching the planet in a sinister vigil. He could tell that the planet was shrouded in mystery as he watched the ball of mud grow closer and closer as the ship entered the atmosphere, causing a bit of mild turbulance. When the ship landed at a spaceport in front of what appeared to be a junkyard, he left through the side doors along with the other passengers as the doors opened. The air was dry and thick, the sun beat down harshly in the blue, cloudless sky , waves of heat rising from the ground, nothing like Ares at all he thought. He walked towards the large settlement in front of him a few meters away and read the sign near it.

"Pahr.. Perr... Pair-o..." He read aloud. The sign made of bits and pieces of scrap metal in all sorts of shapes and sizes as well as broken, dirty neon lights.

"It's pronounced Paradise, but spelled P-e-h-r-o-d-i-s-s-e. Some of the asshats who founded this place couldn't read when they founded this place, so the name stuck. Welcome tourist." One guy said as he stood next to him.

"Thanks, I guess." He said turning to him. "Wait, why did you call me a tourist?"

The guy in question turned and faced the refugee. He was slightly shorter than Kayus, with short, blonde hair and brown eyes. He wore a brown leather duster with a large rifle slung over his back. "Well just the fact that you asked me that question makes you a tourist. that and you're out in the open reading a sign. even more, I saw you travel with all the other folks at the port." He clarified.

"Doesn't that make you tourist as well?" He pointed out.

"Nope. I was born and raised on this rock. Name's Briggy. Briggy Arnes." Legendary badass hunter of Pandora and ladies man extraordinaire!" He grinned. Their introduction was cut short by the sounds of gunfire and alarms blaring.

"Shit! Bandits again." He cursed while readying his sniper rifle. "You better get going before they close the gates to town. They won't open until the bandits are gone." He turned to look at him, only to see there was nothing there. He looked ahead and saw the dark-skinned male run toward the source of the noise.

"Damn tourists..." He said while he ran to deal with the bandits.

Kayus ran down the road and saw a group of men wearing masks and leather jackets, some armed with guns while the shirtless ones carried some strange, axe-like weapon with a buzz-saw on the end. They were engaged in a firefight with what appeared to be some of the settlers on the makeshift ramparts surrounding the town.

"Hey! Can't a neighbor get a cup of sugar?!" A tall bandit wearing a helmet of some animal laughed as he fired off his shotgun.

Kayus ran towards the sounds of gunfire, ready to fight as he wasn't going to be a bystander while someone else took care of the problem. Ever since he was young, he always charged into danger instead of away from it. He was reckless as well as brave. That said, fighting a group of bandits was still pushing it. But if he can deal with hyperion, this should be no problem. He looked at the bandits ahead of him, jumped over the rock and pulled his revolver out. He aimed at one of the Marauders firing upwards and fired a single round into his skull, the impact knocking the poor sap to the ground.

"What the fuck?" The leader in the back said. He turned to the left and saw the boy running towards him. "Looks like we got a suicidal jackass here! you guys cover us while we gank this fucker!" He ordered.

A pair of Psychos charged at Kayus while two Marauders charged at him, screaming something about meat puppet things before swinging down on him. Kayus shot one in the leg, making him double over while he got within punching distance of the other one as the masked nut swung his buzzaxe to sever the boy's head clean off, but Kayus parried the axe with the blade attachement on his pistol. He took advantage of the stunned bandit and gave the Psycho a right hook that shattered his mask before the blow sent him flying through the air, which broke his neck before crashing into a rock. He then shot the prone psycho in the back. Now for the rest... He was about to go after the two marauders but heard a loud, ringing gunshot behind him. one shot sent the bandit flying, a bloody mist exploding from his chest before he hit the ground, before the other one could react, his head exploded in a mess of bone and gray matter before hitting the ground. A few more shots punched holes into the psychos and marauders that didn't take cover or were too slow.

Kayus took cover and fired at a few more bandits before reloading and allowing his shields to recharge While the sniper picked off one enemy after another. Kayus made a mad dash towards what he guessed was the leader. If he could take him out, the other ones would run probably. The raider leader met him head on, firing shotgun rounds at him, knocking down his shields. Kayus dodged most of the pellets while emptying his revolver. This guy had really strong shields. Kayus ran towards him ducking as he fired off a wall of buckshot. He knocked the leader back with an uppercut before slashing him with the blade on his gun, causing him to fall on his back.

"W-wait..." he begged.

Kayus finished him off with a single shot to the head while the others took care of the stragglers. He looked around, the other bandits were finally taken care of and he took a moment to collect himself. He could hear some of the guys talking about what he did. he was barely aware of what transpired during the skirmish.

Briggy's POV

"Dumbass tourist!" Briggy said as he ran to the source of gunfire. "if he gets killed I'm taking his loot... holy skagsack."

He saw Kayus in action and was surprised as he took out the bandits with little effort, despite running in like a madman and shooting his gun. He noticed that his shots with that jakobs pistol were accurate, despite the kick the guns were infamous for. He never saw anyone do that let alone catching a psycho's buzzaxe with his hand. most people avoided those. For a tourist he had a punch that could give a goliath a run for its money. He watched as his shields broke down while and too action by offering him cover fire and picking off the marauders aiming for him. He held his breath and pulled the trigger, blowing a hole in one guy's chest before decapping another with a well aimed shot. He ducked underneath some rocks as a few bullets knocked his shields down. He returned fired and put a few more holes into the brigands. He was going to take a shot at the leader but kayus ran at him and took him down. once the fight was over he emerged from his spot and approached him.

* _Holy shit. I gotta tell the boss lady about this!_ *

"Damn, tourist, where the hell did you learn to fight like that? Though you could use some work. if I didn't come when I did, you would have been dead." Briggy said as he reloaded his sniper rifle.

"I...I know some basic stuff, but what I did felt so natural... It was also pretty badass!" He smiled while recovering from his adrenaline rush. "I had it... mostly under control... I think." He looked and saw that he had a few holes in his shirt where he was shot. it was so weird. even after the adrenaline wore off, it stung a bit, but the pain was slowly fading and he didn't even feel the bullets inside him.

 _*no blood either? weird... is he bulletproof or_ something?* Briggy thought.

"Sure you did, might wanna get those checked out." he deadpanned, pointing to his bloody chest. Well, to the victor go the spoils. He said as he tossed him a shotgun before picking through the pockets of the dead bandits.

"What are you doing?" He asked while eyeing the shotgun. it was boxy and had twin barrels on it and felt like plastic. The word "Tediore" was stenciled on the side. It had no clip or loading tube he could make out. it reminded him of a cosplay prop he made for a friend of his.

Briggy sighed. maybe that fight was a fluke, he thought.

"Dunno how its done on your fancy core planets," He began. "But here on pandora, everything has a use. We take things from the dead and those trying to kill us. It's not like they'll be using it anyway. plus if we don't take it, someone else will." He explained. most of it was low value anyway.

Kayus tried to think of a way to argue that point, but couldn't. for all he knew, the bandits probably did the same thing as Briggy was doing. He knew the frontier worlds would be harsh, but not this much. What would usually be seen as a crime or socially unnacceptable on a civilized planet was the norm for these people. he made a mental note of this survival of the fittest mentality.

"You got a point... I'll help you out with that."

After selling the loot from the bandits outside, Briggy told Kayus to go the bar in the center of town to meet the boss lady. All newcomers of pehrodisse were required to meet her to see what kind of work they would be doing.

Kayus walked inside through the saloon-like double doors to the center of town and sat down on one of the stools.

"So you're the one all the boys were talking about outside. A tourist that took out a group of bandits and lived?" The barkeep asked. she was a short, silver haired woman with a slightly dirtied face and a average, yet muscled build, wearing a red jacket and a white shirt with pants. she looked like someone that had been through some rough stuff.

"Uh, yeah thats me. news travels fast huh?" He replied. He could feel the woman gauging him, as if seeing if he was genuine.

"I'm Lizzie, I'm the one who runs pehrodisse much like I run this bar. Well me and my brother." She introduced "If you want to stay here tourist, you'll have to earn your keep. That means killing bandits, critters, and keeping the town up and running. and one other thing: Me, along with everyone else here is packing heat, so don't try anything or we'll leave as a treat for the skags." She finished while passing out drinks to various patrons.

Kayus swallowed the lump in his throat. * _This woman is scary! Is everyone on pandora like this?!*_ He thought.

"Got it." He replied. Any other rules I should know so I don't step on any toes? I plan to be here for a while, hopefully."

"Just a few. If you or someone else starts a fight, finish it yourself outside. No stealing, and no killing unless it was self-defense. which you probably won't have to worry about. people saw you take out those bandits, so they'll give you a wide berth." She finished. "Oh, and here's your first job." She said passing him a piece of paper. "It's a sort of rite of passage to live here. You finish the job, come back, get paid, and you're in. Hopefully that fight out there wasn't a fluke and you're the real deal." The gray-haired woman replied.

Kayus nodded and left the bar.

"This should be the place." Kayus said as he looked around. he found himself in a dusty valley dotted with rocks. "The crags."

His mission was simple. kill a few skags for their pelts and meat and leave them at the designated area where someone would pick them up. It sounded a bit arbitrary, but he had nothing better to do. When Lizzie described the beasts, she pointed to the mounts on the wall of the bar. quadrapedal, doglike creatures native to pandora with three-jawed mouths lined with fangs and covered in plates that got harder as they matured. Highly aggressive with claws that could tear through metal. Kayus took out his new shotgun as wandered through the area, wishing he could cock it while keeping his eyes open and his senses alert. He wasn't traveling long until he heard a lowd howl. He looked up on a ridge and saw his quarry. a huge skag covered in brown, spiky plates. he must have been the alpha, because a pack of smaller skags jumped down and came from nearby caves, growling and barking at him.

Well at least he found them.

The skags charged at him as he began firing his shotgun, the pellets tearing through the beasts as they lunged at him. He ducked as one tried to pounce on him, only to crash into the wall behind him. An taller one lashed his tongue out at him and broke through his shield and tried again before he grabbed the beast's tongue and swung the beast around into his brethren, knocking them down. he pulled the trigger and only heard a click. He was out of ammo! The damn thing didn't have any reload mechanism, so how the hell was he supposed to reload? he smacked a skag away with the butt of the gun while punching another one away.

"Come on you... damn it!" He roared as he threw forward, it hit the group of dazed skags and blew them into pieces with a loud explosion. The shotgun rematerialized in his hand in a blue light, the name tediore appearing before the gun returned. with full ammo.

* _Holy shit that is friggin AWESOME!_ *

The other Skag ran off after that spectacle, causing the Alpha to jump down and bellow at the male. It charged into him and knocked him down. The skag sank his teeth into his flesh, trying to pull his arm off. He grabbed his pistol with his other hand, and stabbed the alpha in the eye with the blade before kicking him off with both his feet. The skag roared and was sent flying back while kayus fired at him, the bullets barely pierced his skin. He grabbed his shotgun off the ground just as the skag ran and lunged at him, its sideways maw open wide. He steadied his bloody hand and pulled the trigger, blowing it's head clean off as bits of its skull and matter landed in the dirt and on him.

"Well... hah... I hope this is enough skag..." He sighed as he recovered from his fight. he took a look at his arm the skag bit into. it torn and bloody, covered in dirt. "Dammit... That could get infected." He sighed as he tore off the sleeve of his shirt and wrapped it around his arm. he would see the medic if the town had one. he remembered Liz mentioning one. As he gathered up the dead skags, which smelled horrible, by the way, he saw something sticking out of the dirt. It was like it was calling out to him. as he touched it, he felt lightheaded and his vision grew bright and blurry.

"So you're the one who touched it" A voice said.

"Huh? who are you? where am I?" Kayus asked as he looked around. there was nothing around him but clear blue skies, he looked down and saw he was standing in midair.

"That doesn't matter. the sword has chosen you, so you must be worthy. There are two things you should know: the more you grow, the more your skill with the sword grows. Second, the sword's name is Carsomyr. Remember it. The voice said as the world turned bright once more. "Oh yeah. there's a third thing too. only those who are worthy can touch the sword. Seeing how the people on this planet are, you might be the only one. Have fun with that"

"Hey! come back! How do I get out of here? I've never used a sword in my life!"

Kayus came to and lifted the sword out of the ground. for something he found in the dirt, it was impressive. it was a shining white blade with a gold colored hilt with a blue jewel in the pommel, the grip was wrapped in a fiery red fabric that was soft, but strong. It was also as big as him, if not bigger!

"Carsomyr... the holy avenger..." Kayus whispered. "I hope no one thinks I'm overcompensating or something... The last thing I need with a fever is a bad dick joke..."

Back at Pehrodisse, Kayus decided checked the condition of his bite, only to see a faint scar surrounded by dry blood. where it once was, much like the bullets from earlier that day.

* _The hell? I'm like a comic book hero or something..._ * He thought as he returned to the bar. He had told liz how it went and she seemed impressed. especially with the Alpha Skag skag encounter. She asked about the sword he was currently holding and where he had found it and he told her, leaving out the vision he had.. She gave him some money and a key as a reward.

*Better not mention the crazy vision thing when I grabbed the sword. I doubt this place has a looney bin, so they'd probably shoot me instead.*

"Thanks, what's the key for by the way?" He asked.

That key means you're a bona fide citizen of this town. Look for the shack with the numbers '593' on it. Also, if I were you, I would get some better gear and maybe some other things for tomorrow." She explained. "Welcome to Pehrodisse, Kid."

Later that night, Kayus explored the town as he got settled in. He was getting odd looks from people because of the massive sword slung over his shoulder. It was weird how the sword was so sharp, yet as the edge of it rested on his shoulder it didn't cut him or through his shirt. He bought a combat knife just in case he wasn't able to reach Carsomyr. He was able to find someone willing to make a sheath for him to hold the sword on his back after showing it to him. He had made the measurements for it in advance and it would be ready by tomorrow. He was tired, so he decided to retire for the night. He made his way to the red shack on the right side of town sandwiched between two other makeshift buildings that were at least a story high each. He looked at the front of the metal door. the numbers 593 welded on the front. he inserted the key he got from liz into the lock and opened the door. It was a small simple room with a bed and a chest for storage along with a lamp on the table next to the bed. He closed the door and fell on the hard, stained bed.

Hopefully he wouldn't have any nightmares this time around.

 **Still green at writing. Decided to have some action for this chapter. I hoped you enjoyed it. Leave a review if you can. I can't get better at this without input of any kind, positive or negative.**

 **Next chapter, Kayus gets used to his new life on Pandora, and earns the attention of some... unsavory characters while learning about guns and other equipment.**

 **Also, anyone who's played Baldur's Gate 2 as a Paladin should know where the Name Of Kayus' weapon comes from and how badass it is. sort of a little nod to it.**

 **I hope my OC isn't too boring or Sue-ish for you guys. I want to focus on him for a bit and have other characters from the other games make cameo appearances.**


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